Fortune-Telling in Mesopotamia Author(s): Erica Reiner Reviewed work(s): Source: Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Vol. 19, No.

1 (Jan., 1960), pp. 23-35 Published by: The University of Chicago Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/543689 . Accessed: 23/05/2012 20:39
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

The University of Chicago Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of Near Eastern Studies.

http://www.jstor.org

FORTUNE-TELLING
VEN before the first volume of texts

IN MESOPOTAMIA1

ERICA REINER

excavated at Sultantepe came off the press, the preliminary reports and the edition and translation of such primeurs as a tablet of the Gilgame' epic, the Cuthean Legend, new and important fragments of the Creation epic, the Epic of Era, Ludlul bul nameqi,by O. R. Gurney and W. G. Lambert (see STT, I, 1 ff., Contents), foretold of the extraordinary riches that this site will provide for the knowledge of Babylonian literature. My favorite, the same, I assume, as that of most of my colleagues, is the delightful Tale of the Poor Man of Nippur. But this sampling could hardly comprise all the literary genres, many of them new, unusual, and by the same token unsuspected, that this publication of the cuneiform texts from Sultantepe reveals. The major texts, that is, epics and legends, as well as wisdom texts, as indicated above, have found a quick response on the part of the scholars responsible for the publication. The poor cousins, this time, are the magic and religious texts, of which we seem to have a surfeit at the present. However, the latter, as well as some of the medical texts published in this volume, not only supplement our previous knowledge of these text types, but offer samples of new content and style contrasting with the mass of dreary and stereotyped prayers, rituals, and magic medicine known from other sites.

The first impression then, after perusing the 111 texts of STT, I-of which only a few are unidentified fragments-was that of surprise. How is it possible that, acquainted as we are with the library of Nineveh and the huge private collections of Assur, a new site, certainly minor in comparison to the above mentioned and moreover little more than an outpost of the Assyro-Babylonian civilization, can provide us with so many samples of literary genres, and through these, of Mesopotamian thought and practice, that we could not suspect? The "library" at Sultantepe being no doubt another school where scribes learned their craft by first copying vocabularies, then standard works of the literary tradition, it could be expected that lexical texts and important literary and divination texts would be found in number, but hardly that entirely new genres would there make their first appearance. Two explanations of this strange fact present themselves at first: one is the recognition of the accidental nature of our extant text material, which, in spite of its wealth and diversity, can by no means be considered an accurate sampling of what was recorded in writing; second, we might assume that in Sultantepe, remote from the main centers of culture and learning, either certain genres that were not accepted in other cities were allowed to be propagated, or that its distance from the main centers of tradi1 Article based on O. R. Gurney and J. J. Finkeltion enabled freer literary creation, and stein, The Sultantepe Tablets I ( =Occasional Publications of the British Institute of Archaeology at thus it was this "provincial" innovation, Ankara No. 3), London 1957. vi +13 pp., cxlii plates; or preservation of a non-canonical, perabbreviated in the following as ST T. 23

24

JOURNAL

OF NEAR

EASTERN

STUDIES

haps oral, tradition, that is responsible for the difference between this sampling and the great tablet collections at Nineveh or Assur. I feel inclined to reject both these explanations. Two examples will have to suffice here to show that, to our regret, Sultantepe did not and could not bring us information that could not be had from the other major collections. Rather, the collection is a representative sampling of Mesopotamian literature, and the novelties it offers are due to the fortunate but accidental circumstance of their preservation. Texts that have come down to us in such fragmentary state that they had to remain unidentified in their extant copies from Nineveh and Assur can now be assigned, owing to their better preserved duplicates from Sultantepe. The first example is the "unique" tale of the Poor Man of Nippur referred to above. The Sultantepe version permitted W. G. Lambert to identify a fragment of this story in the Kouyundjik collection, copied long ago by the late Dr. Geers but not recognized for what it was (see Gurney, An. St., VI, 148). The other example is offered by perhaps one of the most curious texts of the volume, which I shall discuss at some length here. This text, STT No. 73, seems at first sight to be a religious text containing the usual sequence of addresses to various deities by a person in distress, accompanied each time by rituals involving the preparation of an altar, libations, and the like. As the description of the contents of the individual tablets that precedes the copies (STT, I, 6) points out, however, one of the sections contains "omens determined by the movements of an ox." This section (11.122-38), likewise preceded by a prayer (11. 110-17) and a ritual (11. 118-21), is actually only the last of a

series of queries for omens, and all the prayers and rituals of this text are just preparatory actions to obtain omens from the gods. It is by reason of these omens that the text STT 73 deserves a particular interest, and its importance and informativeness can be evaluated as follows: first, the omens expected are impetrated omens, a rather rare type of Mesopotamian divination; second, we find in it the text of the prayers and the directions for the rituals designed to dispose the deity favorably for giving an answer through a stipulated signal; and third, we obtain evidence of private divination techniques not found in the canonical omen literature. More types of impetrated omens were current in the Old Babylonian period than later on. Libanomancy, i.e., prognostics derived from the configurations of the smoke from a censer, and lecanomancy, i.e., divination from the shape taken by drops of oil in a basin of water, are not attested after this period, with the exception of a late copy of an Old Babylonian lecanomantic text (KAR, 151 r., 31 ff.) and the mention of "'observing the oil in the water" as one of the accomplishments of the barU1 the compendium in of the diviner's craft (Zimmern, BBR, 85, n. 6). Extispicy alone persisted in vogue, while dream-incubation, practiced by the Sumerians, is attested in a single instance only,2 and augury by birds is
2 The only incubation dream preserved in Babylonian literature is that of Nabonidus (see Oppenheim, Dream-book, p. 205), which was induced under circumstances similar to those described in the Sultantepe text (see below, p. 27). After an introduction that is not preserved in the text (VAB, IV, 278, vii = M VA G, I, 77 f.) the king scatters incense to the stars (read [sur]-qin-nu ra-ab-bu-tim ds.-tak-kan-Su-nu-ti-ma,

vii, 4 ff.), prays to them, and is rewarded by a dream apparition of the goddess Ninugga ( = Gula); after the
dream, in the morning (read ur-ri im-mi-ra-am-ma,

"day broke for me," vii, 22) he then goes to the Nabfitemple where he beholds the chapel of Gula. It is perhaps no accident that the only two sources for dream incubation come from Harran: the Sultantepe text and the stela of Nabonidus. It may well be that the goddess variously named Nin (til)ugga, Gula, and Ninlil is the (mother) goddess of an Anatolian culture.

FORTUNE-TELLING MESOPOTAMIA IN

25

known to exist only through the name of the profession ddgil (see CAD, iss.tre III, D, sub voce, and add Iraq, XV, 153, ND 3476, r. 2'), "augur," in the Assyria of the Sargonid period. The question, summarized here in the briefest way, is discussed by Oppenheim, Dream-book, pp. 224, 238, and 205. To these types of impetrated omens we can add now, on the evidence of our text, dream incubation and the sprinkling of an ox with water to observe its reaction,3 and another hitherto unattested type from the recently published Assur text LKA 137 which attests the practice of psephomancy (discussed by Nougayrol, OLZ, LI [1956], 41) by means of two dice called, respectively, aban ereAi, "the desirable die," and aban la erAsi, "the undesirable die."4 Beside such impetrated omens, STT No. 73 attests to divination by observing the flight of birds and the course of shooting stars, references to which are found scattered in the series Summa alu and in the astrological series, but which are observed here to obtain a yes or no answer, determined by a stipulated convention. Parenthetically it might be mentioned here that even the major omen collections, which usually give a wide range of specific prognoses to ominous occurrences, in scattered instances restrict the prognostication to "favorable" and "unfavorable," or confine its implication to a particular case such as the prognostic for a sick man, or concerning the success or the failure of a campaign or a business trip, and even with respect to a contemplated
3 Bouch6-Leclercq, in his Histoire de la divination dans l'antiquitU (Paris, 1879), I, 150, reports that "P Delphes, on essayait les ch6vres P immoler en leur jetant quelques gouttes d'eau dans l'oreille ou sur le pelage, pour voir si l'animal resterait morne ou r6agirait sous cette excitation." 4 For the Urim and the Thummim of the Old Testament, which were most probably two stones and gave a yes or no answer, see, more recently, Rowley, The Faith of Israel (London, 1956), pp. 28 f.

(ana as'atim aljazim, "CT," III, mxiarriage 2:14). The text under discussion is, in contradistinction to the omen collections, systematic throughout in this respect. The technical term applied, which refers only to the chances of recovery of a sick man or to the success or failure of a plan, is either purussd amaru, or purussd parasu, used both in the subscripts to each individual prayer (i n i m .i n i m . ma e. bar igi.tul or inim. bar inim.ma ka.as. bar. re) and in the ritual, which usually ends with the words, "if you do such-and-such, ES.BAR IGI.TUIJ (purussd tammar)."5 To facilitate reference to the individual sections of this text, transliterated on pp. 31 ff., I shall number each new operation from I to VIII, referring within each by A to the prayer, by B to the accompanying ritual, and by C to the section which defines the ominous occurrence as favorable or unfavorable where such a section appears in a more amplified form. Each prayer and ritual is separated from the foregoing by a horizontal line on the tablet, although in three instances onlybetween sections II and III, III and IV, and VII and VIII-the divination methods are separated by a double line. In order to spare the reader the boredom of reading through endless repetitions, I am giving, in the following, only translations of passages essential for the understanding of the typology. The first section contains two prayersI A1 and I A2-to a goddess who is not named (addressed as iltu rimnitu, "merciful goddess") but who no doubt is Gula or another manifestation of the goddess
5 Cf. also the subscript of the psephomantic text LKA e . bar . ma 137:29, [in]im . inim na4.kur na4.gig.nux.gal -nu.[dib.ba t a r. re]e, "conjuration to foretell the future by means of a white stone (lit. alabaster) and a black stone (lit. haematite).

26

JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES

of healing.6 The prayers run parallel for scribing a libation, it directs the priest twelve lines. The last eight-in I A2nine-- to "draw up two tablets, place them(?) lines are slightly divergent, although in in the morning in front of the [...]-star, both prayers the priest appeals to the god- and you will see a sign." dess on behalf of the petitioner for recovery. II A (11. 44-47) is addressed by the In I A1 (11.13-20) this is styled as follows: petitioner himself to the "gods of the "You have been kind enough to let me night," i. e., the stars, to the Night, know your divine will (on previous oc- addressed with the usual epithetonornans, casions) as to whether he (the sick man) "veiled bride," to Ea and the celestial will get well. On behalf of NN, son of gods, to 'qet me, your worshiper, speak NN, who is suffering from this disease, you with my god and goddess, so that, can let him rise from this disease, you until I carry out my plan (adi kalddku) can intercede for him with the gods your they may give me a favorable decision, fathers. The gods your fathers listen to or, (until) I get up (in the morning? = your sublime words, and thus they will tebdku), they may give me a favorable have mercy on him, they will let him sign." II B (11.48-51) has the same subscript again, in good health, walk the streets have been so kind as the preceding; the ritual consists of of his city. Since you as to let me know your divine will (pre- reciting the foregoing prayer three times viously), so send me your divine word over a tamarisk branch, drawing a magic (again) and let my mouth pronounce it!" sign-which is given in a diagram-at In A2 this prayer is addressed on behalf the head of the bed with flour-paste, and of a man who is mortally ill (11.33-41): then "you go to sleep and will see a sign." III A (11. 52-55) is the same prayer "You have been kind enough to let me divine will concerning a death- as II A, except that it is recited by the know your ly sick man. (Do it again) on behalf of conjuration priest, as is shown by the inNN, son of NN, who suffers from this troductory words, "I am the pure (priest) disease and is prematurely being sent to of Ea, the messenger of Marduk," the the netherworld. The Anunnaki who have usual formula recited by the priest at fixed the boundaries (of the life) of NN, the outset of a ritual, the so-called Legitinow are leading him on the road to the mationsformel. Consequently, the final netherworld; his personal god and goddess words also omit the alternative, "or, (unhave disregarded the day of his natural til) I get up." death; he is (now) engaged on a direct The subscript appears this time in a road and a road of no return, he will separate section (1. 56): "Incantation to yearn for but never again tread the streets speak with one's personal god and goddess of his city. Since you have been so kind and thus to learn one's future."' The as to let me know your divine will (pre- ritual prescribes (11.57-60): "You cleanse viously), so send me (again) your divine yourself, ... you draw the figures of Ea word and let my mouth pronounce it!" and Marduk8 (two crude anthropomorI B (11.42-43) starts out with a sub7 Arkat ramdnizu pardsu can only this meanscript to the preceding: "Incantation for ing here. For (w)arkatam pardsu in have nuance see this seeing a sign." The two lines of the ritual Goetze, JCS, XI, 96, n. 41, also, in reference to an are fragmentary and difficult; besides pre- Esarhaddon passage, Borger, AfO, XVIII, 117. 8 The words preceding "the figures of Ea and
6 Note that the subscript of the tablet describes it as copied from an original in the Gula-temple.

Marduk" are unintelligible to me. The text, collated by Professor Gurney, reads: PA SAG eb-bi u eb-bi-ti.

FORTUNE-TELLING MESOPOTAMIA IN

27

phic drawings are provided as models), then you will see your personal god and goddess face to face and they will reveal your future. Make this drawing that I have drawn for you (as a model)." IV A, a new section separated by a double line from the preceding, since it deals no more with direct nocturnal apparitions of the god and goddess, but with incubation for a dream whose symbolic gestures will provide the divine answer, invokes the constellation Ursa Major (MUL. MAR.GID.DA, "Constellation Wagon") in terms that deserve to be set down here (11. 61-64): "Divine Wagon, heavenly Wagon, whose yoke is Ninurta, whose pole is Marduk, whose axles are (the two) heavenly daughters of Anu! It rises toward Assur, it is bent toward Babylon. In order that NN, son of NN may live(?), entrust him with [...], so that he may see a dream." IV B (11.65-68) has the usual subscript. After the pertinent preparations--having a virgin, boy grind grain, sweeping and sprinkling the roof with clean water, drawing a circle, offering incense and flour-"you recite the incantation three times, and, without speaking to anybody (afterwards), you go to sleep and will see a dream." The following two lines (11. 69-70) should actually be designated as IV C, although they are not separated by a horizontal line. They are the ones that give the interpretation of the dream styled as in an omen text: "If they give him something (in his dream), the sick man will get well; if they do not give him anything, the sick man will die; if you perform this to foretell the success of an enterprise, if they give him something, he will have success, if they do not give him (anything), he will fail." V A1 (11. 71-75) is identical with IV A, except that Ursa Major is addressed in the second person. The petition is a

little different and more explicit in tenor: "Without your permission, even a mortally ill man cannot die, and a well man cannot start on a journey. If I am to succeed in this journey on which I am about to start, let them give me something (in my dream); if I am to fail in this journey on which I am about to start, let them receive something from me (in my dream)." The subscript (1. 76) designates this section: "Incantation for seeing a sign when starting [on a journey]." V A2 (11.77-80)-without a ritual intervening, since IV B provides the necessary instructions and dream interpretation-is another prayer addressed to Ursa Major. This rather fragmentary prayer leaves us in doubt about its purpose. Preserved are only: "If... favorable, let me have gain (lit. let them give me a share), if... unfavorable, let me have a loss." The subscript (1. 81) (supply a dividing line, collated) is somewhat obscure: "Incantation for seeing a sign [...] you spend the night awake, you will find out your future." V B (11.82-84) contains the pertinent ritual only. The person who performs it should stay on the roof in the still of night alone while everybody is asleep, sprinkle water three times to Ursa Major, three times to the constellation Erua,9 scatter flour, and then, when he goes to sleep, he will see a sign. It is uncertain whether this is a sign given by direct communication with the deity or in a dream under the stipulated conditions of Sections IV and V A1. VI A (11.85-87) introduces yet another divination technique. This prayer is addressed to Ninlil, with the petition: "If NN, son of NN, is to have success, let
9 For the constellation Erua (part of virgo plus Coma Berenices) see Gtssmann, SL, IV/2, No. 126. In a description of constellations from Assur (Weidner. AfO, IV, 73 ff., see esp. p. 83), the pole of the Wagon is directed at the back of Erua.

28

JOURNAL

OF NEAR

EASTERN

STUDIES

a (shooting) star pass from my right and towards my left." The ritual, VI B (11. 88-91), is very similar to that of IV B and is introduced by the same subscript but expressed by k a . a. bar bar.re, i.e., purussd pardThese si, instead of e . bar igi.tub. lead to "seeing a sign." preparations again Section VII deals with the same divination technique. VII A (11. 92-99) is a prayer addressed to the stars of each of the three paths of heaven. "I, NN, . . . watch for your liumdsu-stars, give me a definite 'yes' answer! From among the innumerable bright, [...], twinkling stars of heaven, your.. ., let one star shoot from my right and pass toward my left; if [... ], let it pass from behind me toward in front of me!" VII B (11.100-02) is again fragmentary, but seems to contain preparations similar to those of IV B and VI B. Section VII C (11.103-09) is not separated from the preceding and is again in omen style: "You recite the incantation three times, turned towards the Wagon-star, if a (shooting) star passes from your right to your left: favorable, if the star passes from your left to your right: unfavorable, if the star passes from in front of you toward your back: unfavorable, if the star passes from behind your back to in front of you: favorable, if the star passes [through/ by] the Wagon: favorable, if [.. .] it enters into the constellation Wagon: favorable." The last section introduces-after a double line--the most unusual divination technique of all. The omen predicting success or failure depends on what an ox will do when he is sprinkled with water. VIII A (11.110-17), the prayer that introduces it, this time invokes the "divine judges," that is, most likely, Sama' and Adad. Five lines of praise are followed by the description of the petitioner's divination technique: "In this midnight watch

I shiall pour pure spring water on the forehead of an ox; let me see your true judgment and your divine decision, so that I (the priest) may make a pronouncement. Let the ox provide a sign whether NN, son of NN, will have success." VIII B (11.118-21) deals with the ritual of drawing water from the river, offering incense and flour to the gods of the night, and libating beer. "You hold up this water, recite the incantation three times, pour (the water) three times on the forehead of a recumbent ox, and you will see a sign." The following section-VIII C (11.12238)-provides (in omen style) for seventeen ominous actions of the ox that predict success or failure, depending on whether he gets up or not, turns to the right or the left, the direction he takes getting up, bellowing, and stirring up dust with his horns or pawing up dust, and, in lines 133-34, raising or lowering his huruppu. The colophon gives the name of the scribe and, most interesting, describes the text as copied from an original in Esabad, i.e., the temple of Gula. To this strange text there exists only one partial duplicate. This is, as already recognized by Gurney, LKA 138. LKA 138:6-8 parallels lines 85-87, LKA 138: 2-4, lines 88-91 of our text, that is, the divination technique based on the observation of shooting stars. The rest of the obverse of LKA 138, lines 9 ff., contains directions for a ritual and a prayer to Ursa Major which has no exact parallel in STT 73. The reverse of LKA 138, however, contains another means of divination that is not recorded in the Sultantepe text. This is the observation of the flight of birds. Only the prayer is preserved, and, although it is in fragmentary condition, it can be restored with the help of a prayer inserted at the end

FORTUNE-TELLING IN MESOPOTAMIA

29

of Tablet 66 of the series lsumma diu. P1. XVI-should be assigned; the subThis prayer is addressed to Sama' and script only states, using again the techAdad, and the end, which is duplicated by nical term puruss': ES.BAR MUSEN.MES "CT," XXXIX, 24:28 ff. (see Ebeling, kalas'unu,"signs observed from any biud," LKA, p. xiii, and Nougayrol, OLZ, LI and the first preserved line refers to a [1956], 41), asks that, "in order that NN, situation which is unfortunately not specison of NN, may carry out his undertaking fied: summa KI.MIN-ma issru igtu sumeli with success, let either a kudurrdnu-bird, amBli ana imitti ameli Ttiq la [kas-ddsibati], or a kappu-raps'u-bird, an arabdanu-bird "if ditto, and a bird passes from the or fly by from my right side and [pass] left of a man toward his right, failure." In the second tablet of the diagnostic toward my left." The prayer is followed in LKA 138 by a conjuration of the omen series (Labat, TDP, p. 12), lines abracadabra type but in gumma dlu by 63 ff., again omens are derived from stars, a ritual which ends with the words: Sipta for a collation of the tablet A 3439 in 3-Skutamannima issfiru illakamma tam- the Oriental Institute Museum shows that mar, "you recite the incantation three we have to read in line 63: summa UL times, and then a bird will come and TA [imitti ameli isru ], "if a star twinkles from the right side of a man," this section you will see (the sign)." The last two divination techniques being placed after omens derived from which occur outside the Sultantepe text, various birds, reptiles, and insects, and i.e., divination from shooting stars and before omens derived from strange lights the flight of birds, are not, strictly speak- and lightning. These omens again give ing, impetrated omens, since it seems likely only a yes or no answer, since this tablet that they rely on observations of only is designed to foretell to the exorcist accidental occurrences on occasions when whether the patient will live or die. Aside a divine answer was requested. Also, these from prognostications for the patient, the are the two techniques that are also known section just mentioned, as well as lines from Summa alu, the astrological collec- 7-12 and lines 72 ff., also prognosticate tions, and other omen collections. Divina- success or failure (kas'ad/ la kas'ddsibati), tion from stars twinkling (sardru) in vari- owing to the fact that the first two tablets ous relations to the observer (right side, of the diagnostic series were compiled left side, etc.) are preserved on two frag- from other omen collections, mostly from mentary tablets partly published by Virol- Summa ailu (see Labat, ibid., p. xvi). leaud in Bab., IV, 125 f.; they are designed The above-mentioned parallels only reto provide a yes or no answer (styled: fer to two of the divination techniques damiq, "favorable"; ahi, "'unfavorable") of our text and go to show that shooting to the question of success or failure: the stars and the flight of birds were considfirstline indicates this, saying:summaamnlu ered ominous in certain circumstances. ana qibiitiWu tebima, "if somebody starts To the third technique, divination.by out on an undertaking." Apart from vari- means of sprinkling an ox with water, ous tablets of Summa dlu (Tablets 66 I know of no actual parallel, but its exand 67), bird omens are recorded on the istence can be proved by indirect evidence. fragmentary tablet 83-1-18, 213 pub- Among the various branches of magical lished in Boissier, DA, P1. 34. It is uncer- and ritual activities that the masmascutain to what category this text-and the priest had to master according to the similar K. 10364 in Holma, Omen Texts, famous vade mecum KAR 44, one is des-

30

JOURNAL NEAREASTERN OF STUDIES

ignated as puruss kakkabe is~ire u alpE see Goetze, ibid., 94 f.), and three are to bil Sgri, "oracles by means of stars, birds, inquire into the outcome of a business and oxen (and?) wild animals," (rev. 2). venture. One of these specifies (ibid., No. This reference has hitherto been obscure, 8): ana sahirti s'a isdmu ina szqi gimdti although Zimmern, ZA, XXX, 223, rec- ana nameli innaddin [x (x)] epus","(the ognized that they concern divination. The extispicy) was performed for (finding out juxtaposition here of oracles from oxen whether) the merchandise which he has and those from stars and birds makes bought can be sold on the market for a it likely that the reference is made to profit." For the other, performed to find the divination technique described in the out whether a merchant's boat would arrive safely in port, see Goetze, ibid., Sultantepe text. The inclusion of these divination tech- p. 95, n. 37. The third (Bab., III, 141) niques in the curriculum of the masmndsu states its purpose simply as "for underjust mentioned shows that the person taking a certain enterprise" (ana epgs acting for the petitioner in the Sultantepe sibitim). It was only later that the only form text, but not named there, must have been the priest called mas'mdsru could of impetrated omens which remained in who assume the functions of a diviner in such use, extispicy, became, as did also asdivination techniques as were not reserved trology, concerned exclusively with public for the bad.r. life and the welfare of the state. This This also shows that, however simpli- rise in status was accompanied by a refinefied the operations described in our text ment and particularization both in the may be, they were not carried on outside features and occurrences observed and in the sanctioned magico-religious frame- the prognoses, as a scholarly achievement work and were not "primitive" or "popu- on the part of the high-ranking class of lar" in the sense of our "popular super- diviners. This seems rather removed from stitions." Rather, their difference lies in the everyday practice, and a far cry from the circumstance we find only rarely in the simple yes or no answer that alone the late and canonical omen collections, is sought by the petitioner of our text. that they were performed for a private The difference is most revealing in the individual, in answer to such simple ques- dream omens of the Sultantepe text, if we tions as the recovery of the sick or the compare them with the Assyrian dreamsuccess of a particular enterprise. which is typical of the preoccupaIf we consider the impetrated omens book, tions and the style of Mesopotamian omen preserved from the Old Babylonian peri- literature as we know it from late texts. od, we find, there too, evidence that the The stipulated conventions of the dream consultation was made on behalf of a that is, that the dreamer should private person. This evidence is in the content, be given something or that he should predictions of Old Babylonian smoke and oil omens (cf. above p. 24) which are con- not or, alternately, that he should be cerned with the private person, and in cer- given or he himself should give something, tain reports on extispicy--both Old Baby- are the salient contents of the expected lonian and Kassite-(see Goetze, JCS, dream to which the Assyrian dream-book XI, 89 ff.). Of these reports, several are devotes a whole tablet, Tablet B (Oppenon extispicies performed to inquire about heim, Dream-book, pp. 322 ff.). In the the well-being of a person (ana dulmim, Dream-bookroughly 340 lines specify the

FORTUNE-TELLING

IN MESOPOTAMIA

31

object given to the dreamer in his dream, with pertinent specific prognoses in each case, followed by a shorter section in which only imhur, "he receives," is preserved. This should correspond to the prayer mimma liddinani ... mimma limhuruninni of STT 73:74 f. The Sultantepe text gives us for the first time a record of an actual oracular consultation, the term oracle taken here in its sense of "requested answer" ("rdponse implor6e," see Bouch&-Leclercq,op. cit., I, 228), starting with the description of the occasion--the plight of the petitioner mentioned in the prayer-the preparations for receiving the oracle, and the legum dictio or stipulation specifying the expected sign (ibid., IV, 184 and 198). Since the signs are stipulated in advance,
TRANSLITERATION

even the interpreter can be dispensed with (for similar conditions in Greek and Roman divination, see again Bouch&-Leclercq, ibid., I, 289, IV, 161, etc.). The above-discussed parallels with Mesopotamian divination texts, but mainly the parallelism of the Sultantepe text with the Assur text LKA 138, and through it the direct link with Summa dlu (cf. above pp. 28 f.), should prevent us from attributing the uniqueness of this text to the fact that it comes from Harran and represents practices evolved under the influence of an alien background. We must consider the practices it attests as part of the Mesopotamian divination tradition and be grateful to the fortunate accident that has preserved for us such a complete document of it.
OF

STT

7310

1) [PN il-tum] rim-ni-tum mu-bal-li-ta-at LU.UGx [?d nap-lu -us-sa] ba-la-tu u na-ds-6ur-?did-la-mu
[ap-kal-lat] DINGIR.MES ga-me-rat ab-ra-a-[ti] [?a-bi-t]a-dt mar-kas kip-pat AN-e U KI-tim 5) [mu-kil-l]at mar-ka-si GAIL-i a E-9dr-ra ina AN-e u-tur KI.GUB-ki ina dEv4.DAR.MEA vd-qa-a
dA-nu dBE U d.-a DINGIR.MEA AD(!)" .MEv-ki

re-gd-a-ki

[ina ba-l]i-ki ul i-?d-ka-nu ur-ta [x x x] ?d e-la ?d-?d la Db-a ab-ra-a-ti 10) [U ES.BAR] AN-e U KI-ti NU TAR-SU
[ana-ku al]-si-ki du-us'-mu-ui pa-lib-ki [ana NfG.GIG i]m-bur-an-ni-ma ina sap-li-ki ak-mi.-su DINGIR]-ti-ki GAL-ti ds-su lib-lut [t.-em [ta-ri-man]-ni-ma ta-tf-man-ni 15) [ki-i NENNI] A NENNI GIG an-na-a ?d mar-su [ina GIG(?) an-n]i-i tu-lat-bi ina mahar'2 DINGIR.ME' AD(!)l1.ME'-ki

a-bu-su

ta-sab-ba-ti-ma

10 The transliteration is appended here to facilitate the following of the Akkadian text, since a number of emendations were necessary to gain a meaning, and the autograph copy is not easy to read. The unusually high number of emendations I had to use prompted me to ask Professor Gurney to collate the doubtful passages, and I gratefully acknowledge here his kindness. My suggestions were not always confirmed by his examination of the original. I adopted here the method of leaving unmarked the signs that are clear

on the original, even if they look different on the autograph; I marked with exclamation or question marks those signs which were doubtful on the original, and I added a note indicating the signs that actually appear on the tablet wherever there was an obvious scribal mistake or where I had to suggest a reading to fit the context. 11Text GAL,but see line 27. 12 Text AD; the construction requires ina mahar, ina pdn, or ana.

32

JOURNAL

OF NEAR

EASTERN

STUDIES

[DINGIR.ME

-S-]U [ki-i sd] ta-ri-man-ni-ma

Lanaqi-bi-ti-k]i sir-ti DINGIR.MES AD(!)"1.MERS-ki i-qul-lu-ma i-gam-me-lu-sau SILA URU-s' ina SILIM-me i'-s*ak-ba-[su] u
DINGIR-ti-ki

20)
EN

DINGIR-ti-ki GAL-ti t.-em ta-t.-m[an-ni] GAL-ti sap-rim-ma KA.MUlu-se-si

t.-em' il-tum rim-ni-tum mu-bal-li-ta-at

s nap-lu-us-sa bc-la-tu u na-ds-bur-sdsd-la-mu ap-kal-lat DINGIR.MES ga-me-rat ab-ra-a-ti

d-qa-a re-~i-a-ki

ina ba-[li-ki] ul i-id-ka-nu Fur-tal

30) 'i ES.BAR

e-la s"d-s'd Db-a ab-ra-a-t[i] la [x] x x [Md] AN-e KI-ti NU TAR-FSU1

al-si-ki du-us-mau- pa-lih-ki ana-kau

GIG

an-nam <mar > -sU-it5 ta-t.-man-ni

sd mar-Su GIG

sd su-ut ku-dutr-ra LiL16 NENNI ik-di-ru DINGIR-Si U dXV-SU u4-Um-Sia 'i sim-td-su

i-ru-ua

KUR.NU.GI4.A

na-su-_su

SILAURU-Sit zu-mu-ma a-na du-ur da-ri la i-kab-ba-su ki-i "d ta-ri-man-ni-ma DINGIR-ti-ki GAL-ti 40) DINGIR-ti-ki GAL-ti sup-rim-ma KA-ia lu-se-si t.-em ta-t.-man-ni t.-em

t-ma-sti-ru-su-ma ur-ha SaU-te-su-ra 'i har-ra-an la ta-ri te-bu-ui //

ii)

INIM.INIM.MA

E[S.BAR

BAL-qi 2 t-il-ti te-D-i[l] ina IGI MUL [X ina] se-rim ana

IGI.TUHI

DU.DU.BI]

a(?)1-na

IGI

[........

GAR-a]n

KAS

F X X1AN X [x x x x

t]a-sJak-kan-ma ES.BAR

IGI.TUHI

EN at-[tit]-nu MUL.MES sd mu-sei-ti dEN.BI.LUH dNIN.[BI.LUH d]EN.BI.LUH.HA17 45) [u] mu-Mi-tum kal-la-tum kut-[tum-t]um // dE-a [MAN] Z[U?AB] tuik-latEri4-dulo dIMINBI d VII a-sib sd-ma-[mi DINGIR].MES KU.MES ia-[a]-t[i] iR-ku-nu [K]I DINGIR.MU dXV.MU

[Ii-di-nu] lu-it te(?)-ba(?)-a(?)-ku

Su-ud-[bi-ba]-nin-ni-ma // lu-t ES.BAR-a-a lip-ru-su18

EN

KUR-kU

di-ni

x x x [.... ?]N an-ni-tum

3-su ana

MI-tim DU.Db.BI ina MI ana IGI MUL.MES UGU GIS bi-ni AID-nu-ma
attested elsewhere. Their names may be learned or cryptic names for, perhaps, Sin, I tar, and gamag, such as the similarly formed names of Anu, Enlil,
and
18

Text 15 Text
16

mu, but see line 12. like tu. has a sign that looks the combination

more

like

NIN after

nam; my emendation does not quite satisfy me.

collated;

standable to me, perhaps LiL is to be omitted. 17 These three deities are, to my knowledge,

Sd LiL is ununder-

Ea: dEn-zai Text

Mab-za

dKi-za-za
DI

(Ebeling,

TuL,

p.

111:30).
lu-ti kal na/ba ku (rest of the line col-

not

lated as transliterated).

FORTUNE-TELLING

IN MESOPOTAMIA

33
ra-ma-na1'J

50) [
[

] GAR-an ina
] sd ZID.MAD.G0

SAG GIS.NX-ka te-sir NA-ma ES.BAR IGI.TUH

[EN [dEN.BI.LUHI

ram]-ku sd dE-a DUMUsip-ri sad dAsal-li-hi ana-ku DINGIR.MES MI-tim ina [...
dNIN.BI.LUH DINGIR.MES EN.MES IMIN.BI

MI-tim

kal(!)-la-tum
DINGIR.MES

k[ut-tum-tum]
d[E-a]
MAN ZU?AB

MU-,i-tum
'VII

tuk-lat Eri4-du1o

6-i-b

55) ia-[ti] IR-ku-nu KI DINGIR.MU dXV.MU ,u-ud-bi-ba-nin-ni-ma di-ni li-di-nu ES.BAR-[a-a lip-ru-su]
INIM.INIM.MA KI DINGIR-Sit

[KUT.MEs]

,Ad-ma-mi
lu-u EN KUR-kU

U
dES4.DAR-8?

da-ba-bi-im-ma
GIS.HUR.MES dXv-ka

EGIR Nif-~i

pa-? a-si

DU.DUb.BI1 Ni-ka UD.UD PA SAG eb bi u eb bi ti sa dE-a u dAsal-li-hi te-sir-ma KI DINGIR-ka a

ta-n[am-m]ar-ma EGIRNi-ka i-pa~ -ra-su-ka 60) GIs.HUR [an-ni-t]u sd e-si-ru(!)-[k]a te-sir

ma-sad-da-id

dAMAR.[UD

bu]-ba-tu-?d

D[UMU.SAL]

[sd-ma]-mi sd ni-Firl-sd dNin-urta dA-nim sd AN-e KU.MES

ana
ki-i
65)

IGI As-surki NENNI

A NENNI

nap-ha-[at] ana IGI K[A.DINGIR.R]Aki IGI-Sad 8ak-nu i-ba[l(?)-lu(?)]-rtu(?)l i-x-x-x-si(?) lip-qid-ma MAS.GE6
I[GI.TUIH] DU.DU.BI

INIM.INIM.MA

ES.BAR

r'e(?)-em(?)1 ,a

1 hAar-bi TI-qi 1.TA.XM

te-bi-ir
SE.BI MI tu-su/na-x LfU.[TUR] sd SAL NU ZU-U IHAR-en ana IGI MUL.MAR.GID.DA UR SAR A.MES KU.MES SUD su-ur-ta tu-sa-ar NIG.NA SIM.LI U ZID.MAD.GA GAR-an EN 3-Sit rSIDl-nU KI LU.N[U].ME NU KA.KA-vb NA-ma MAS.GE6 IGI sum-ma mim-ma SUM-9gt GI[G T]I mim-ma NU SUM-s~ GIG UGx

70) sum-ma

sm-ma ana Db-e8 XA.A DU-U4s] mim-ma SUM-sit AS-s

KUR-dd NU SUM-SUi-NU

KUR-dd
EN at20-ti MUL.MAR.GID.DA
dAMAR.UD

sd AN-e KJ'--ti ni-ir-ki dNin-urta ma-s'ad-da-ki dA-ni[m] d

b[u]-ba-t-lci

DUMU.SAL

ina

KUR

A s-ulki
UGx U

IGI-ki GAR-nu ina ba-li-ki LU".UGx NU har-ra-an NU DIB-bat i-na KASKAL te-ba-ku si-[bu-t]i KUR-dd mim-ma lid-di-nu-ni 75) [i-na KASKAL] te-ba-ku gi-[bu-ti] NU KUR-dd mim-ma lim-hu-ru-nin-ni TI [INIM.I]NIM.MA ana [KASKAL(?)]

nap-&a-ti ina KA.DINGIR.RAki

te-bi

ES.BAR

IGI.TUH
mar.
KI.

19These three signs are inclosed within a geometric figure, for which consult the autograph copy in STT.

20 21

Text Text

34
IN

JOURNAL MUL.MAR.GID.DA

OF NEAR

EASTERN

STUDIES

DUMU.S[AL

'A-n]im GAL-tUm kal-lat E-kur kul(?)-[x] tu [x]

X-i]t-tU AdSE.PAD.MES at-ti mu-gim-tumMd NAM.[MES mim-ma ki-a-[am(?) ana (?)] SIG5.MES iHA.LA lid-di-nu-ni gum-ma 80) gum-ma mim-ma ki-a-a[m(?) ana] BAR-tim si-i-ti
INIM.INIM.MA ES.BAR IGI.TUHI [DU.DJ].BI

li-si ar(!)-kat(!)-ka
TAR-aS22

MI tu- am-'a(!)

iii) e-nu-ma UN.MES sal-la-ma qu-[lu] GAR-nu e-di'- i-ka ina UR GUB-az-ma A.MES KU.MES ana IGI MUL.MAR.Gi[D.D]A S-si til-lih 3-Si ana IGI dE-ru--[a]
ZfD.MAD.GA

SUB-uk e-nu-ma SUB-ku an-nam DUG4.GA NA-ma ES.BAR IGI.TUH

85) dNin-lil be-lit

AN-e r[1 KI-tim AMA DINGIR.MES

GAL.MES

s'i ina ba-li-gd dEn-lil be-e[l NAM.MES] NAM.MES la NAM.MES ki-i NENNI A NENNI MUL [T]A ZAG.MU lil-su-ma-am-ma ana GPB-ia DIB-iq AS-su i-ka,'-'d-du
INIM.INIM.MA KA.AS.BAR BAR.RE DU.DU.BI

ina UD SE.GA x-ta-lal i1-te-en-ma U ZfD.MAD.GA 90) NfG.NA SIM. <LI>

ina MI ina PR ana

SE GAL TI-qi LU.TUR idSAL NU ZU IGI MUL.MAR.GID.DA

P-nam-mar-ma BAR.BAR
A.MES KU.MES BAL-qi-ma

EN an-ni-tu
ES.BAR

3-sz ana

IGI MUL.MAR.GID.DA

SID-nU

IGI.TUH GAL.MES

EN DINGIR.[MES]

SUU-utdA-nim

DINGIR.MES

GAL.MES 'US-ut d50 DINGIR.

MES GAL.MES 'u-ut d -a

Su-ut dA-nim al-si-ku-n[u-?]i u-ut d50 na-as-hu-ra-ni lu-ut dE-a gi-mi-irl-ku-nu qu-la-ni 95) ana-ku NENNIAda UD a-[na(?)] lu-ma-'i'-ku-nu git-ku-nu pa-nu-uz-a an-na ki(!)-na(!) ap(!)23-li-nin-ni-ma ina i\ MUL.MES AN-e NU SID.MEs nam-ru(!)-[ti x]-x-ti sar-ru-ti mi-ih-rat GAB.MES-kU-nu MUL [TA ZAG.MU lil]-su-ma-am-ma ana 150.MU DIB-iq sum-ma [x X TA] EGIR.MU a-na IGI.MU DIB-iq
100)
KA.AS.BAR BAR.R]E(!) e-am ga 1 har-bi DU.DP.BI x-x-ir LU.TUR9d SAL NU ZU IJAR-en x [.....................] ana IG[I MUL ... NIG.N]A SIM.LI GAR-an ar(!)-kat(!)24-ka TAR-as x [.................] ]N ana IGI MUL.MAR.GfD.DA SID-ma 83-87 sum-[ma MUL TA ZAG-k]a ana 150-ka DIB-iq 105) vum-m[a MULTA 150-k]a ana ZAG-ka DIB-iq INIM.[INIM.MA TI-qi

KAL

NU KAL
NU KAL

sum-m[a

MUL TA IGI-k]a

ana EGIR-ka

DIB-iq

sum-m[a MULTA EGIR-k]a ana IGI-ka DIB-iq MUL MAR.GfD.DA DIB-iq ~um-[ma x x x ] x

sum-[ma x]
22 Text tu-Aam-NI based on context.

GAR-ma
I

ana SX
TAR-as;

MUL.MAR.GiD.DA
reading
23

TU
an-na di ud la i.

KAL KAL KAL

r+

aGR MAN-ka

Text

24 Text

CiR MAN-ka.

IN FORTUNE-TELLING MESOPOTAMIA

35

110)

AN [al]-si-ku-nu-si

DINGIR.MES DI.KUD.MES ina AN-e KU25.MES

rina su(?)-pi(?)'-e su26-ke-niak-ta-nar-rab-ku -nu-'i [di-p]a-ru na-mir-tu dci qi-rib gd-ma-me// ana nu-ri-ku-nu su-mu-rat mit-har-tti
[ana d]a-a-nu-ti-ku-nu
BAL-UIqi-bit-su-un DINGIR.MES ana 115) ina ~at mu-si an-ni-e A.MESBAD KU.MES uw'-te-"e-ra pu-ut GUD DI-ku-nuki-na u ES.BAR DINGIR-ti-ku-nu GAL-ti lu-mur-ma qa-ba-a lu-ug-kun sum-ma NENNI A NENNI AS-SUi-kas'-d-du GUD ES.BAR lid-di-n.a TU6s N DZ.DU.BI ina UD.SE.GA tal-ta-ad-da-ad DUG.LA.IJA.AN 8i 'u [k]ud mu TI-qi LU.TUR ai SAL NU ZU-u ina fD A.MES i-sab-ba NiG.NA SIM.LI u ZID.MAD.GA

da-a-a-nu ~c la

UN.M[ES]qul-lu // ana ES.BAR-ku-nU i-kan-nu-ug en-'u

iv 120) ana

IGI DINGIR.MES

AN 3-Ui

ID-nu ana

pu-ut

MI-tim DUB-aq KAS.SAG BAL-qi A.MES su-nu-te fL-ma GUD rab-si 3q BAL-qi-ma ES.BAR IGI.TUH

Sum4-ma Sum4-ma sum4-ma 125) gum4-ma

GUD is-su-us-ma

it-bi

KUR-ad
NU KUR-ad
NU KUR-ad VSUB VUB

A
i~

GUDis-su-us-ma NU it-bi GUD ZI-ma TE-su ana 15-U GUD zI-ma TE-su ana 150-SU

A KUR-ad AS

Sum4-ma GUD im-ruq-ma it-bi 'um4-ma GUD Zt.MES-oSi im-ruq-ma NU it-bi Zi.MES-S'2 DU GUD

KUR-ad AS
NU KUR-ad Xi KUR-ad Ai
NU KUR-ad NU KUR-ad

Sum4-ma

zI-ma ana

IGI-si

Sum4-maGUD zI-ma 130) gum4-maGUD zI-ma

ana EGIR-2 DU ana ZAG-SU2 DU 'um4-ma GUDzI-ma ana 150-&i DU Srum4-ma GUD zIl-ma is-si

AS

iS KUR-ad A~ KUR-ad AS

[Vum4-ma GUD ZI-m]a u-ru-up-pa-si LA-qi [Vum4-ma GUD ZI-m]a hu-ru-up-pa-si us'-ta-pil

su-us-su-qu

ana UGU-sv is-lu 135) [ium4-ma GUD ZI-m]a SAIJAR.IJI.A [~um4-ma] GUD rzIl-[m]a ina sI ZAG- i SAIAR.II.A is-1u 'um4-ma GUD zI-ma ina sI 150-~i SAIJAR.IJI.A is-lu sum4-ma GUD zI-ma ina GIRa-sCtmah-ra-a-ti SAIJAR.II.A ana NU KUR-ad EGIR-8i is-lu
GABA.RI E-sa-bad h-tar x-x-sab-si LU'.SAMAN.LATUR DUMU mdNab -SU Li.A.BA INSTITUTE ORIENTAL OF UNIVERSITY CHICAGO
25Text oGAL.
2

KUR-ad A~ KUR-ad AS NU KUR-ad AS KUR-ad AX NU KUR-ad AS

i~

Text has a broken sign, like su or qi.